Raw meat and other foodstuffs generally cannot be stored in a warm environment as they will spoil and become a health concern. To address this problem individuals use coolers, ice chests, and sometimes, portable refrigerators or freezers. The cooling systems currently used, however, are not suitable for all applications. More specifically, hunters often skin and clean recently-killed game in the field. In addition, hunting areas are often remote, which makes maintaining ice or getting recently-killed game to a commercial or home cooling system difficult. Transporting common refrigeration devices to remote locations and powering the same is difficult or impossible. One of skill the art will appreciate this problem is exacerbated when hunting during warmer spring, summer, or fall months, when the need to chill the recently-killed game drastically increases. Indeed, remote or temporary refrigeration has been addressed by providing refrigerated trucks that transport and store raw meat. But such vehicles are not cost-effective or feasible as they cannot traverse rugged terrain. In addition, it is inefficient to cool a large volume when a smaller volume is needed, e.g., for a deer.
Some hunters also wish to dry or age recently-killed game, which is difficult or impossible to do at home or in remote locations. That is, many people do not have access to a cooling system large enough to accommodate larger game they can use for an extended period needed to dry or age meat.
It is also desirable to refrigerate food or chill drinks at an event that does not have a refrigeration system. For example, caterers and food truck operators often prepare food off-site that needs to be refrigerated for an extended period of time and require portable refrigeration systems. If the event is at a remote location, ice or other cooling mechanisms must be used, which is costly and cumbersome. Further, some events do not allow large cooling systems due to the noise generated by such systems.
It is thus a long-felt need to provide a portable cooling system that may be used in a variety of locales. The following disclosure describes a portable cooler that is collapsible and easily deployed when needed.